How to raise succulents?

Basic requirements of succulent plants for soil

Loose and breathable, good drainage and water retention performance, containing a certain amount of humus, moderate particle size, no fine dust, weak acid or neutral (a few species can be slightly alkaline).

Soil-mixed cinder is a common ingredient, but almost all the cinders contain sulfur, and succulents are not allergic to sulfur, which has the function of sterilization and pest control. From the comparison of planting for many years, the plants with cinder have stronger stress resistance than those without cinder, and are not easy to produce root rot and root scale disease. The coal cinder used is granular raw coal cinder after full combustion (it doesn't matter whether it contains unburned coal or not), followed by honeycomb cinder. There is a lot of soil in the honeycomb residue, so it should be crushed and sieved if it is used. Coal cinder should be watered before use to remove fly ash and alkalinity. Using eggshells, eggshell ratio 1/4, the effect is very good. Eggshell is a good breathable and water-saving plant material, which is very useful for increasing soil permeability and of course increasing calcium content. The eggshell should be crushed into 2-3mm, and the general round soil accounts for about 1/4, and the sand accounts for about 1/3. However, there is dust in the garden soil and sand, as well as bricks, vermiculite, perlite, bluestone and slag, which must be screened out and washed repeatedly before use. The components of plant materials are not necessarily those listed by experts, nor do they necessarily need a single component, but the more components, the more miscellaneous the better. If you have all the bricks, vermiculite, perlite, bluestone and slag, you can use them, and the total amount should be controlled at around 1/3. For example, eggshells, mussels, bone meal, old lime, carbonized rice husk and other calcium-containing things are also available, and some are used for various purposes, and the total amount should be controlled at about 10-20%. Different plants have different physiological functions and different nutrients, so it is definitely better to use some miscellaneous ingredients than a single ingredient. No matter what kind of ingredients are used, they should be exposed to the sun for a few days before use.

Soil matrix

For succulents, most of the cultivated soil sold in the market has certain limitations, so experienced lovers often make it by themselves. What kind of cultural soil is high quality? Simply put, it should be sandy loam with loose air permeability, good drainage, a certain aggregate structure and capable of providing nutrients for plant growth. Attention should be paid to the reasonable collocation of organic plants and inorganic plants during preparation to avoid too fine and too small dust. The following are some common substrates for succulents:

1, organic plants

① Rotten soil: Clivia soil sold in the market can be selected, or Taxodium ascendens or Zelkova schneideriana leaves can be collected for fermentation and disinfected when used.

(2) Peat: It is a limnetic plant that has been buried underground for thousands of years, and now it produces well in Jilin, Heilongjiang and other places. High-quality peat is brown, with high organic matter content, good fiber degree, loose texture, non-sticky feel, strong adsorption and slightly acidic PH value.

③ Sawdust: It has strong water permeability and water retention, but it is generally not used alone because of its high carbon content and low nitrogen content. It can be mixed with some nitrogen-containing compounds such as bean cakes for composting and fermentation.

④ Rice bran ash: rich in potash fertilizer, with alkaline PH value. Choose dark black, not white, the structure should be uniform, not too thin.

⑤ Snake sawdust: treated fern (Alsophila spinulosa) stem. Hard and brown, not perishable. With good drainage and certain fertility, it is a popular cultivation substrate in recent years.

⑥ Mountain mud: Huangshan mud: low organic matter content and general drainage; Hongshan mud: high organic matter content, heavy soil after watering, easy to harden after drying; Heishan Mud: It has high organic matter content and good drainage, and is not easy to harden after watering. Usually use black mountain mud.

⑦ Fairy soil: commonly used orchid cultivation substrate. But practice has proved that it is also quite good for fleshy meat. It is characterized by complete nutrients, good drainage, no pollution and no weed seeds. After potted for one year, the aggregate structure is still very good.

2. Inorganic plants

① Vermiculite: a kind of golden lightweight material with honeycomb structure, with strong water retention and heat preservation, good air permeability and no germs. As a cutting substrate, it has a high survival rate, but it has no fertility, so it should be mixed with other substrates. It is easy to destroy its structure after long-term culture. Used vermiculite should be screened before use.

② Perlite: a kind of volcanic rock containing aluminosilicate, which expands into a light material when heated at high temperature. Good water permeability and air permeability. But the effective water content is low, so it is often used as an auxiliary material.

③ Coconut bran: palm fiber, with loose texture and particularly strong water retention. Often used for cutting. It is common in the market that coconut chaff is in a small block after compression, which is also called "expansive soil". When in use, soak in water first.

④ The cornerstone of the pond: fired at high temperature, often placed at the bottom of the basin or mixed with other substrates. If mixed with other plants, the particles should not be too large, about 0.2cm.

⑤ phytolith: It is an orchid substrate, which has more advantages than the pond cornerstone and is rich in various minerals. It is effective in cultivating succulents and can replace the above, but the price is slightly expensive.

⑥: Salt-free particles should be selected, and the particles should not be too fine. Before use, it should be washed, sieved and mixed with other substrates. Good water permeability, high oxygen content and large temperature difference between morning and evening, suitable for meat requirements. Other inorganic plants include volcanic rocks and coal cakes. In addition, some auxiliary materials, such as shell powder, calcium treasure and other calcium-containing materials, are often used when preparing culture soil. There are also some basic fertilizers such as chicken manure and cow dung. Attention should be paid to the reasonable collocation of organic plants and inorganic plants during preparation to avoid too fine and too small dust.

No matter what kind of planting material is selected, how to prepare it, and soil preparation should meet the basic requirements of plants, and all aspects should be considered and grasped flexibly.

(1) Prepare according to the cultivation place: for example, the ground planting and potted soil are different. When planting on the ground, we should pay more attention to the drainage link and add materials with strong drainage, such as gravel. Potting should be based on the principle of ensuring looseness and ventilation, and properly supplement organic matter. If planted on the terraced fields in Nanyang, it is necessary to consider the characteristics of dryness and sufficient light, and add some substrates with strong water retention, such as vermiculite and coconut bran.

② Preparation according to different species: Different species may be "very different" in soil preparation. For example, epiphytic species need a certain amount of humus, while some terrestrial species with poor soil and underdeveloped roots require less humus. Not only different families and species have different requirements for soil, but also different families and genera have different requirements for soil. Take aloe vera and lying cattle in Liliaceae as examples. The former belongs to the genus Aloe, with strong habits and fast growth, and sufficient base fertilizer can be added to the basin bottom. The latter is a Caryophyllum plant, which grows slowly and basically does not need base fertilizer.

(3) According to different cultivation areas: the climate in the north is dry, which has certain requirements for soil moisture conservation; There is abundant rain and high air humidity in the south, which requires high drainage and ventilation of soil.

④ According to different growth stages, the root system at seedling stage is underdeveloped and the organic matter content is slightly less. The soil is mainly made of light materials, with some fine sand added, and then the organic matter content will gradually increase.

In fact, soil preparation cannot be explained by a few simple principles. The following formula can be used for reference:

1) 8 parts of plant stone+2 parts of fairy soil+a little shell powder (suitable for cultivating raw stone flowers).

2) 10 coarse sand +2 sawdust+/kloc-0 base fertilizer+/kloc-0 garden soil (suitable for planting).

3) Humic soil 1+ peat 1+ coarse sand 2+ light material 1+ a little base fertilizer (suitable for cultivating epiphytes).

4) 3 parts of pond foundation stone+2 parts of fairy soil +65438+ 0 part of light material +65438+ 0 part of peat (suitable for cultivating 12 hard leaf varieties).

5) 2 parts of garden soil +65438+ 0 part of humus soil+4 parts of coarse sand +65438+ 0 part of light material+half part of chaff ash (suitable for breeding common terrestrial species).

Sedum mixed with soil, it is considered that peat soil or peat soil can be slightly larger, including humus soil, river sand, perlite, vermiculite and so on. As a matter of attention, in order to promote rooting and vigorous growth, appropriate amount of rice husk charcoal, bone meal, disinfectant alcohol, etc. Is added to the soil; Watering should be decided according to the weather and plant growth. When it is dry, it will get wet. Pay attention to those who grow up well and manage them. In fact, most of those who are not good-looking are hibernating. Of course, it's best to leave them alone.

Mixing soil: after the honeycomb briquette residue is screened, it is added with garden soil+fairy soil+sand+bone powder+shell powder+eggshell+ceramsite+sapphire+activated carbon, and the screened dust is planted. Full-light curing, watering is dry and wet. Add decomposed chicken manure to the bottom of the basin. The basin should be small and the soil should be small and loose. After the soil is dry for a few days, water it and get more sunshine. There is little water in midsummer, Sedum sativum is fleshy, and it is mostly dormant or semi-dormant in summer. [Source: www.jingyanshu.com]

Hu Jin is a strong thorn ball. Ordinary flower mud+coal ball ash+bone meal can be used. Just water it once a month.

Ball games: common flower mud+coal ball ash (granulated after sieving)+vermiculite+appropriate amount of bone powder.

Meat with thick roots (such as jade fan): blue stone+fairy soil+appropriate bone meal.

The remaining meat: common flower mud+humus+snake wood+vermiculite+appropriate bone meal.

Put the mixed plant materials into a stainless steel container, pour in rainwater to moisten the soil, then seal the container and heat it on a fire for a period of time to ensure that insects, larvae and eggs are killed, but some easy soil microorganisms will survive, especially those that reproduce by spores.

The selected pottery basin has good water absorption, and it is not a big problem to water too much, which can alleviate the negative impact caused by too much water. However, the pottery basin is heavier after absorbing water, and the flower stand is required to be strong. The permeability of purple sand basin is between tile basin and porcelain basin. Generally, fairy meat is raised in purple sand pots. The purple sand basin needs to pay special attention to the thickness of the basin wall. The thinner the purple sand basin, the stronger the permeability, and the permeability of the old thick basin wall is similar to that of the porcelain basin.

Generally speaking, the root system of fairy meat plants is not very developed, and many fairy meats only have fibrous roots. Planting a variety with shallow roots in a deep pot will only be detrimental to its growth, because the pot soil with low roots can't hold water for a long time, making the pot soil sticky. There is too much water in the soil, so it can't evaporate and transpiration for a while, which is easy to lead to decay. Therefore, the selection of pots should be based on the principle of "rather small than big, rather shallow than deep", and it is best to use half-high proportion or flat pots. Only those fairy meat varieties with tubers or straight roots need deeper pot soil and grow well in standard pots or deep pots. The selection of pots for large and medium-sized balls requires that the ball diameter is basically the same as the pot diameter, or the pot diameter is slightly larger than the ball diameter by one or two centimeters, and it is best to plant a variety of balls together. The depth of the cultivated soil is at most twice the diameter of the ball, that is to say, the diameter of the ball is 5cm, and the soil depth is 10cm, which can be shallower for large balls. The bigger the ball, the less water and nutrients it consumes. Too much soil in the basin is not only useless but also perishable. If the flowerpot is too deep, it is necessary to add more soilless fillers at the bottom as drainage layers. According to the size of water particles, several layers can be arranged, with the largest one at the bottom. After the drainage is put away, put coarse materials first, then fine materials. After putting the plants in, lift the plants up slightly and add soil to stretch the roots. Don't add too much soil at a time. Tamp the soil evenly along the edge of the basin. Finally, gently mound the basin several times to level the soil.

Change the pot

Because most succulents grow under artificial cultivation conditions, their roots are confined in flowerpots and it is difficult to stretch freely. After a period of growth, the roots fill the whole flowerpot, which is not conducive to drainage and ventilation. And the soil in the flowerpot is limited. After continuous absorption and repeated watering by roots, nutrients are exhausted, and the cultivated soil has changed from granular to powdery. In addition, in the process of absorbing nutrients, the roots constantly secrete acidic metabolites, which makes the soil acidified, which is not conducive to the growth of plants. Therefore, when plants grow to a certain stage, they must turn over the pots and change the soil. According to different varieties and the size of plants, seedlings are changed every 1 ~ 2 or 3 years (some varieties can even be transplanted several times in 1 year, which is the so-called big one). For most varieties, pots are usually changed in the middle and late March, and ramet culture is carried out in combination with pot changing.

Second, water.

Succulent plants must be replenished with water in time to meet the needs of growth and development, which is by no means what some people think is "rather dry than wet". Of course, for plants planted in the ground, the number of watering can be less. Most succulents and cactus varieties cultivated by themselves are difficult to master watering, mainly in the timeliness of watering.

To master the watering technology of succulents, we must first understand the dormancy habits of various species. Watering during dormancy can easily lead to plant rot. For example, watering the dormant raw stone flowers in summer will cause the plants to rot immediately. If watering in winter, cactus varieties that are dormant in winter will cause root rot or be easily frozen. Although winter may not rot, spring will rot.

Secondly, we should carefully observe the growth of each plant. Some people think that some plants are short of water when their leaves are red and their tips and old leaves are dry. In fact, this phenomenon may occur when the light is too strong, the basin soil is short of water for a long time, the root system is destroyed, the root neck is rotted, and the root neck is automatically repaired and scarred after being bitten by insects, resulting in poor water transportation. Therefore, mastering watering technology is very helpful to be familiar with the growth of plants. Generally, plants with particularly strong growth and plants in flowering bud stage have higher requirements for water, so they should be watered as soon as possible; However, some old bulbs with basically stagnant growth need to be watered less frequently.

Finally, watering should consider temperature, air humidity, greenhouse ventilation, the size and material of the basin, whether the roots extend down to the sand bed, etc. To help judge whether the basin is short of water. When cultivating other potted flowers, it is generally possible to decide whether to water them according to whether the soil on the surface of potted flowers is white, but in succulents, this judgment will lead to errors, because the cultivated soil of succulents is generally mixed with sand, vermiculite, pebbles, shell powder and other substances, which is easy to cause the surface of potted flowers to be white. Especially in the case of a large proportion of these substances, the surface of the basin soil is often white the next day after watering, and the basin soil below is not short of water at this time. Some experts pointed out that when the surface of the basin soil is dry at 1 cm and the lower basin soil is still wet, the absorption of fleshy roots reaches the maximum. If you water the soil as soon as it turns white as usual, it will cause too much watering and affect the growth of plants.

The watering time should be early morning in summer, before noon on sunny days in winter, and in spring and autumn. In general, don't spray water from above, otherwise there will be ugly spots on the sphere after a long time, the hair of hair column type will be easily polluted and bonded, and the accumulated water at the growing points such as Cui Hua palm will cause rot. Pond water tends to grow algae on plants, which is as ugly as moss. Under normal circumstances, watering must be sufficient, so loosen the soil frequently so that the basin soil can absorb enough water evenly. For the growing winter plants and intermediate plants, the pot soil should be kept moist, not watered, thoroughly watered, without water and too dry. Summer seeds can be properly watered, but not too much. If it rains or the temperature drops suddenly, stop watering.

How to control the amount of watering?

I think the root of this problem is mainly the lack of quantitative experience. Many books describe nothing more than "strictly control watering", "you can water more", "keep dry" and "dry is better than wet" and so on. Everyone's understanding of this description must be different. Some friends have a different understanding of "dry" than another friend, so one is watered and the other is not, and the result is naturally different. Although quantitative analysis will make dogmatic mistakes, it should be helpful for everyone to reduce losses in the process of becoming a master of flower cultivation. The following are two experiences that I think are more practical. As I said before, I will focus on:

First, the bamboo stick judgment method: that is, insert the bamboo stick (or toothpick) into the depth of two-thirds of the soil in the basin. When watering, pull out the bamboo stick to see if the soil is wet or dry. This method is very helpful for watering plants in dormancy and semi-dormancy, or about to enter dormancy and semi-dormancy;

Second, the wet and dry judgment method of topsoil: Generally speaking, when the topsoil is white, it can be watered. This is the principle of "no water, water thoroughly". The so-called dryness means that the topsoil is white, but the moisture can still be seen when the topsoil is removed. For the fairy meat in the growing period, such a judgment method is possible. Those who are habitual can water immediately, and those who are relatively afraid of water can wait two days before watering.

There is also the pot end method, which means that a good friend can hold the pot and water it if it is light. Fairy meat grown in plastic pots is mainly made of light materials such as clay carbon, and the weight after watering and drying is still obvious. Tap the basin method, that is, tap the basin wall with your fingers and make a hollow sound, indicating that the soil is dry.

To judge the humidity of soil, watering is necessary. If conditions permit, sitting in a basin is the best way. Under normal circumstances, it only takes 15 seconds for the washbasin to be immersed in half the water depth. Never take it out when you see water on the topsoil. The looser and more breathable the soil is, the less time it can take, because the siphon effect is strong. The advantage of this watering method is that it can ensure that the upper part of the soil is relatively dry than the lower part, and it is not easy to rot the roots. Because the root tips of plants are divided into root cap area, growth area, growth area and root hair area, only root hair is the main part of absorbing water and has the strongest moisture resistance, while the old roots above the root hair area have lost the function of absorbing water, mainly playing the role of water conveyance, nourishment and fixation, and their moisture resistance is poor, so the rotten roots often start from here.

Third, air humidity.

Some fairy meat fans often find such a problem: the fairy meat baby they just bought from the flower market, just a few days after they "settled in", has lost their spirits. Although I take good care of myself, these little things are shameful. This worried his master. I don't know that this problem can be said to be a problem that every fairy meat fan will encounter, and it often stumbles some fans. But growers with a little experience know that this is actually a problem of air humidity.

If you are a fairy friend in the arid area of the north; If your practice place is your own outdoor balcony or windowsill. This is particularly important. So why are the above problems? Why is air humidity so important? Here we can analyze it together: the succulents in the flower market are all produced in the flower beds, and these plants are all grown up in greenhouses, which are closed most of the time, so the air humidity inside is relatively high, so the cultivated plants are full and full of vitality. However, after the purchase, the above problems will occur because the family planting places in most areas often fail to meet such conditions. Then some fairy friends will ask: most of these succulents have harsh environment, less annual precipitation and dryness, so how do they use air humidity? We first rule out the high humidity in the rainy season. The temperature in these producing areas is higher several hours before sunset (especially at noon). But at night, the temperature will drop sharply. In this way, hot and cold air will condense into fog. Especially at dawn. This is also a way for them to absorb water, which is the happiest time for them. Looking back now, the conditions in most of our cultivation areas are not enough. This does not include some more demanding epiphytic species and some bromeliads.

It is precisely because of the limitation of cultivation places that many plants have withered, their tips withered, and their plants aged ahead of time. This is invisible to greenhouse cultivation. Although it is not fatal, its ornamental value will be greatly reduced. The most effective method is simple: spray with a fine nozzle. There are also most fans who use disposable plastic cups to buckle upside down on the basin (mostly in spring and summer). Or choose a glass jar for cultivation, spread a layer of roving on the bottom, and sprinkle water on it from time to time to increase the humidity, so as not to make the basin often "full of water." In short, the adjustment of air humidity should be considered from many aspects, including species, seasons, growth stages and so on. And absolutely can't generalize. When the humidity is too high, plants are easy to rot, causing scale insects; If the humidity is too low, the ornamental value of plants will be discounted, which is easy to cause red spiders.

1 Requirements for air humidity in each season: It is very important to maintain a certain air humidity during the growing period. When plants enter the growth period, the effect of air humidity is obvious. The requirements for native species in tropical rainforests are more stringent. Some horticultural varieties with rich color changes will be more colorful if they can maintain a considerable air humidity. It can be said that basically most varieties need a certain humidity at this time. However, we should be very cautious about the air humidity during hibernation, first of all, some varieties with higher meat quality in summer sleep. For example, summer in Shanghai is a typical "hot and humid" weather. The highly fleshy bells of Apricot family rot easily. How to escape the heat from the old varieties of original stone flowers and jadeite jade is often the biggest headache for enthusiasts. Similarly, winter dormant varieties should also be kept dry. This point should be paid attention to when the temperature is below 5 degrees. When the temperature continues to drop to 0 degrees or lower. At this time, if the humidity is high, it is often fatal and can be fatal overnight. However, most cities in the north are dry in winter. This "wet and cold" climate is very common in some southern cities of China.

2 air humidity at seedling stage: air humidity at seedling stage is particularly important, and its significance exceeds soil humidity. Because there will be a process of "squatting seedlings" at the seedling stage. The purpose of controlling soil moisture in this way is to promote the growth of new roots. At this time, maintaining high air humidity can prevent it from being short of water because of squatting seedlings. Generally, the requirement of air humidity in seedling stage is higher than that in other growth stages, but the air humidity at this time is also the most difficult to master. Practice has proved that the smaller the seeds are, the smaller the seedlings are, and the resistance is poor, so they often cannot tolerate high humidity. Typically, there are the most varieties of Annonaceae, and some varieties of Crassulaceae (the most prominent is Begonia Four Seasons) are represented. This phenomenon will be greatly improved after molding, and the problem of air humidity will not be so prominent.

3 requirements of air humidity for asexual reproduction: there are two kinds of commonly used asexual reproduction in the family: cutting and grafting. Cutting: Plant organs should be kept dry for the first few days after leaving the mother. Such a period of time depends on the variety. It takes as little as 4 or 5 days and as much as a month. After the wound is completely dry, it can be inserted into the matrix. At this time, high air humidity can be maintained. At this point, there are mainly two schools: one advocates creating an environment in Gao Qian, which can take root in a short time, but it consumes a lot. The other school advocates creating a humid environment and consuming less individuals for cutting. However, the views on grafting are relatively unified, and the first two weeks after grafting should be kept dry and ventilated. Excessive humidity has an effect on the survival rate of grafting.

For some tuberous varieties, such as tortoise shell dragon, bitter gourd, smile bag and so on. In the country of origin, their surfaces are often irregular cracks and uneven. However, in the artificial cultivation environment, especially after the seedlings are domesticated, the uneven surface becomes very inconspicuous. But the reason is not only the problem of humidity, it is an all-round problem. This is also an auxiliary basis for some experienced lovers to judge wild and artificial cultivation.

Third, fertilization.

Winter-type and intermediate-type plants are applied with decomposed dilute liquid fertilizer or compound fertilizer once every 20 days or so. Fertilization time can be in sunny morning, so be careful not to splash fertilizer on plants. Summer species do not need fertilization.

Fourth, temperature.

The optimum temperature is 15~28, and the maximum temperature is 5~35.

Verb (abbreviation for verb) reproduction

After the leaves take root, wait until the leaves wither and the buds grow. Wait until the seedlings grow to two or three centimeters. Use a big pot when inserting leaves, not spray. Water the soil when it is dry, and don't pour it on them.

It is suitable to remove the head in the middle of April every year, just leave three or four leaves below, and then dry the chopped leaves for five days before cutting.

Many succulents can be propagated by cutting branches from stems with sharp knives, and any tools used to cut plants must be disinfected with alcohol in advance. Learn more: cutting propagation methods of succulents

The best cutting position, such as the stem with nodes under the node, or the petiole on the stem or below the base of the new bud. When pruning, be careful not to damage the beauty of the female parent's plant shape, and it is best to pick branches after more than one stem node. Cuttings are planted in sandy medium sterilized at high temperature, which can be pure sand, coarse sand or vermiculite. Sometimes the cuttings can be planted directly after being cut, or they can be aired for a day or two to heal the wound tissue and avoid fungal infection.

Many succulents can get a new plant by cutting only one leaf. For example, Sedum, Sedum, Sedum, Eupatorium and many epiphytic cactaceae plants. Shark palm plants can sometimes reproduce by inserting leaves. Sun-dried the leaves for several days to heal the wound and produce healing tissue. Then, put the leaves into a culture basin, so that only the base of the leaves contacts the culture substrate, which feels better than inserting the lower part of the leaves into the substrate and is not easy to rot. After a while, new roots can be observed, and then new buds and leaves will appear.

Cutting is best done at the beginning of the growing season, usually in spring, except for plants in winter. After cutting, put it in a place with good ventilation and bright light at room temperature of 20℃, but avoid sunlight. It is also a good idea to put the cuttings in a closed environment, so as to keep proper humidity until they take root. The simple method is to cover a large polyethylene plastic bag on a large flowerpot, or cut off the top half of a clean transparent plastic bottle and buckle it upside down on a flowerpot of the same size. Cutting seedlings should be watered less, not more, and then the amount of water should be increased until obvious growth can be observed.

Propagation by ramets: Many succulents are clustered or have thick tuberous roots, which can be propagated by ramets. Try to remove the soil from the flowerpot after taking the plants out. The specific method of dividing plants depends on the growth type of plants. For example, when you pour the pot, you can plant many varieties of Rosaceae, Sedum and cactus, and separate the offspring that grow well and take root independently and put them into the pot alone.

Propagation of lateral buds: Many cacti and succulents grow lateral buds or young balls at the base of adult plants, which are usually easy to pick or cut off, and can be put into pots alone after drying for a few days. This is also good for the mother plant. These lateral buds or bulbs consume a lot of nutrients from the mother plant. Some plants germinate and tiller at the edge of leaves and flower beds, and can also be picked and cultivated.

Six, pest control

1. Starscream

It mainly harms succulents of Asclepiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Compositae and Liliaceae. Sucking the juice of young stems and leaves with mouthparts, the injured leaves appear yellow-brown spots or fall off. This scar will never disappear. Generally speaking, you can see whether there are cobwebs and red/white/dark insects on the back of leaves. If there is, it is generally starscream.

Control measures can reduce and avoid transmission by increasing environmental humidity, and can be killed by 40% dicofol 1000- 1500 times or avermectin.

Elimination method of red spider

Manual removal of Starscream has the advantages of low cost, convenient material acquisition and excellent effect.

Material: a toothpick, a small amount of double-sided tape.

Methods: Cut the double-sided adhesive tape into small pieces 0.5- 1CM square, and lay them flat on the table. Take a toothpick, press one end on the rubber surface and fix it, then gently rub the toothpick in one direction and wrap the double-sided tape around one end of the toothpick; In this way, a simple miniature "dust roller" is made. Put the plants with red spider disease under strong light (because the pests are too small to see clearly), and then roll on the sphere with a "dust roller" so that the red spider can never escape. Because the "dust roller" is very small, it can flexibly shuttle between the edges and thorns, leaving Starscream with nowhere to hide. When a "dust roller" is full of pests, you can have a rest and then make another one. This method is suitable for the early stage of the disease in which the sphere is not invaded by a large area, and the effect is good.

2. scale insects

Its harm range is wide, and it often harms succulents with dense leaves, such as agave, twelve volumes, etc., and sucks the juice of stems and leaves, which leads to poor growth of plants and even withers and dies in serious cases. Its high incidence period is earlier than that of red spider, and it often breeds in early spring. But its harm is also easy to control, that is, it is often concentrated on a few plants. Sometimes a plant is covered with scale insects, but there is no one nearby.

Preventive measures: brush can be used to drive away when the quantity is small. In addition, 800- 1000 times of liquid can be sprayed. Adding a certain amount of carbofuran into the culture soil has preventive effect, but the drug effect is only 3 months.

3. whitefly

The affected area is not large, and it mostly occurs in shrubby succulents such as Caiyunge, Rosa davurica, Jade Kirin and Jindi of Euphorbiaceae, which suck juice at the backstab of leaves, making the leaves turn yellow and fall off, and induce sooty blotch at the same time. There will be a large area of ugly black powder on the stems and leaves, which will directly affect the ornamental value of the plants.

Prevention and control measures: In addition to improving the ventilation of the environment, 40% omethoate EC can be sprayed at the initial stage, 65,438+0,000-2,000 times, or 500 times marathon or 65,438+0,000 times dimethoate mixed with dichlorvos, and the dead insects and black powder can be washed away with strong water flow after spraying for 2 days.

Rot treatment

Rot is a common disease of succulents, which is usually caused by fungal infection due to excessive watering or too humid breeding environment. Some insects, such as mealybugs, can also cause decay, especially mealybugs. The wounds caused by these pests when they suck plant juice can cause fungal infection.

There are many forms of decay, and when you find it, it is often too late. Always be alert to faded places on plants and soft and mushy stems and leaves.

Once succulents wither and become soft and mushy, they will rot. If it is rotten, it should be cut off immediately. Knives and hands should be disinfected before and after to avoid infecting other plants. If there is fungal infection, plants should be sprayed with fungicides, and the wound must be completely dry before it can be buried.

There are many kinds of decay, which are briefly introduced as follows:

Canopy rot: the internal decay of plants leads to the collapse of plants;

Stem rot (mainly Euphorbiaceae): that is, stem rot, which usually appears at the bottom of the stem;

Stem rot: caused by Bactrocera dorsalis;

Fungal rot: brown and watery spots appear on plants;

Apricot rot: it happens on branches.

Black rot: often occurs after cotton aphid or root powder infection.

Treatment of succulent plant rot.

Be sure to keep the utensils clean and sterile when handling decaying plants, and wash your hands carefully before touching other plants.

Crown rot: cut off the infected part with a sharp knife, and then fill the wound with broken charcoal and sulfur. The wound should be completely dry.

Neck rot: cut off the rotten part and treat the rest as cuttings. Remember to wait until the wound is completely dry before burying it.

Fungal decay: cut off the damaged part with a clean knife and cover it with sulfur. Spraying plants with a mixed solvent of benadryl and mancozeb.

Black rot: cut off the infected part with a clean knife, spray with benzene and cover with sulfur.

Those who do not have the above drugs can make do with some commonly used disinfection and sterilization drugs. The most important thing is to cut off the rotten part, and then put the plants in a ventilated place until the wound is dry and healed. As long as it is cut off, succulents generally survive by virtue of their tenacious personality, except for some varieties that are difficult to cultivate.